In addition to denouncing idolatry, one of the most frequent tasks of prophets was to critique Israel for her syncretism. A H. Mowvley points out in Guide to Old Testament Prophecy, though they may occur together, idolatry and syncretism should be seen separately. In idolatry the Israelites went after alternative gods - gods made by human hands - rather than pursuing Yahweh. In syncretism, however, Yahweh was confused with other gods, and alien practises were imported into what was supposed to be the worship of Yahweh. People were supposedly drawing near to God in worship, entering "into the presence of a divine King, with expressions of loyalty, but their wills are in no way conformed to his and what they do, they do simply in conformity with custom and habit."

God hated this syncretistic worship. As Amos notes (4.4ff.), God sees it as rebellion. Israels acts of devotion were meaningless to God because their hearts were far from Him: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them." (Amos 5:21-22 NIV) Mowvley points out that God, staggeringly, considers this worship to be sinful because it purports to do one thing and does another; essentially, they are lying to God, as well as to themselves. The prophets, then, are seen time and again calling the people to serve God with humility and sincerity as they adhere to His ways.Mark Pertuit False Prophets or Genuine Prophetic Leadership?

How much are we at risk of syncretism in our worship and liturgies? Are we offering false worship because we are really there for the cool songs lead by our favourite band? Are we offering false worship because we are really there for the holy atmosphere generated by the rituals, liturgy, incense and architecture? What is the focus of our heart? Do we need all this stuff to get to Jesus - or are we using it as a shield to shelter ourselves from the Truth?

One of the intended themes of this weblog was the relationship between The Way Jesus is and socialist approaches to saving humanity. Haven't done much with that thread, but I was reminded of it by this little article by Bruce Wright on TheOOZE. Bruce Wright writes (oops, sorry):

I believe we have much in common with the anti-globalization movement.
This movement seeks to empower the poor; so does Jesus. They seek to
prevent wealth and power from controlling the world, the kingdom of God
is about this as well. They seek to prevent the loss of autonomy and
diversity; likewise, Jesus doesn't want to take away our individuality.
This movement also seeks to encourage an organic collectivity of
society, and isn't that what the Church is supposed to be doing?
Finally, they seek to end the attempt of creating a one world economy
and government and are against greed, this is also consistent with the
kingdom of God.

Such a coalition of the righteous was apparent in the Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh where a wide spectrum of organisations took part, including churches, para-church and radical socialists. But if those protesting outside Gleneagles are allies of the Kingdom where does that put the 'born again' President and Methodist Prime Minister who were on the inside? The elastic gets stretched too far if we want to say, "we're all goodies really, fighting for what's right".

Fascinating interview on LeadershipJournal.net with Dieter Zander and Dallas Willard on the questions What is spiritual formation? Why don't Christians look more like Christ? Including the following snippet about the emerging church reuniting social justice and Scripture:

Spiritual formation is a major topic within the emerging church. Are they getting it right?Zander: The emerging church is really saying that the kingdom of
God is bigger than the evangelical Christian world. Sometimes that is
communicated in constructive ways, sometimes not. But I believe they
have a healthy desire to bring together what was separated during the
Modernist-Fundamentalist split Dallas mentioned earlier. They want to
reunite social justice and Scripture—the inner spiritual life and the
outer social life. That is spiritual formation—allowing the gospel to
transform us internally so we live differently externally.

Willard: They have a justifiable and
healthy reaction against the model of programmatic church, and I think
it's good in many respects. I hope and pray that they find their way
and bring us something really positive and good. That has yet to be
seen. The great challenge for the emerging church is determining their
message. Reacting against the modern church is not a gospel. But if
their message becomes living in the kingdom at street level, then
that's going to be wonderful.

So there's a challenge worth picking up - 'living the Kingdom at street level'.

At work today I came across the "Novices Guide to the IETF" (Internet Engineering Task Force) at The Tao of IETF.

"The Internet Engineering Task Force is a loosely self-organized group of people who contribute to the engineering and evolution of Internet technologies. It is the principal body engaged in the development of new Internet standard specifications."What Is the IETF?

What struck me was the explanation of the form of the organization:

"The IETF is unusual in that it exists as a collection of happenings, but is not a corporation and has no board of directors, no members, and no dues.

"The IETF meeting is not a conference, although there are technical presentations. The IETF is not a traditional standards organization, although many specifications are produced that become standards. The IETF is made up of volunteers, many of whom meet three times a year to fulfill the IETF mission.

"There is no membership in the IETF. Anyone may register for and attend any meeting. The closest thing there is to being an IETF member is being on the IETF or Working Group mailing lists (see Section 1.3). This is where the best information about current IETF activities and focus can be found."What Is the IETF?

So it struck me that this could be a good model for organizing church. There is a mission statement, so you know what everyone is aiming at. If you participate, you are in. If you contribute, your gifts are recognised. And the rest is dealt with among the "loosely self-organized group of people".

My mind was going over The Matrix again this morning and I found some more lessons learnt:

we are at war,

it is not love on its own that conquers evil, but it's love, faith and hope over however many years it takes, combined with preparation, practice and skill with the weapons.

And the uncertain software engineer who has the feeling something is wrong with the universe, but does not know what it is, he is transformed into the hero. And finds his princess.

"Why are we enchanted by tales of transformation? I can't think of a movie or novel or fairy tale that doesn't somehow turn on this. Why is it an essential part of any great story? Because it is the secret to Christianity, and Christianity is the secret to the universe. 'You must be born again' (John 3:7) You must be transformed."John Eldredge, Waking the Dead

And we get a clearer view of reality through mythical tales such as The Matrix.

"But as Lewis wrote, 'The value of ... myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by "the veil of familiarity."' You are not what you think you are. There is a glory to your life that your Enemy fears, and he is hell-bent on destroying that glory before you act on it. ... But once you begin to see with those eyes, once you have begun to know it is true from the bottom of your heart, it will change everything."John Eldredge, Waking the Dead

And John uses examples from heroic stories, including The Matrix to illustrate these points. I never quite grasped The Matrix, so we watched it again this evening. And now I understand. Things are not what they seem. The apparently unreal is reality. We have to walk by faith. Prophecy will only reveal to us what we need to know. When we believe we can be empowered to do anything. The power of love conquers evil. And the kiss from the princess will reveal the true prince.

So I came swaggering out of the cinema - empowered to conquer the world!

Just learned the meaning of a new word 'grok'. It looks like a useful word if this blog really is on the way to wisdom.

"Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer
becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose
identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean
by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us
(because we are from Earth) as color means to a blind man."Source: Wikipedia

Considering whether it is possible to grok Jesus and what that would be like. But, as the definition indicates, grokking can't actually be achieved by humans.

However, in some ways, I think Jesus groks us - without the loss of identity bit. We are united with and in Him - but in Him our identity is fulfilled.

Last Sunday I finally got to meet face to face with some friends made via Internet and was privileged to join in the Sunday meeting of their fellowship. There were not even a dozen of us. Meeting in a home. Worshipping, sharing, experiencing the presence of the Lord in and among us (in a 'clump' like this picture). This is church being rediscovered from the grass roots, informed by the writings of Gene Edwards, Frank Viola and others. A community living within walking distance of one another; allowing the Lord to lead them into whatever He leads them into. Taking time to allow His way to be revealed in their life together and to grow in Him.

No hard structures. No leadership but Jesus. No rules but the ones He sets.

My only contact up to now was two or three years of (at times) intensive e-mail with one of the members. Yet I felt at home, received, welcomed into the fellowship, a member of the body. This is the networked church, the Body of Christ, built from the living members.

Experienced two extreme forms of church last weekend - the mega gathering drawn from the whole country and the micro gathering at the grass roots of a neighbourhood.

The Mega Gathering

Saturday evening with E and friends to Michael W. Smith concert in his Healing Rain Tour at the Gelredome, Arnhem. MWS is a showman and he was well supported by the EO with a high quality podium, audio, video and light show.

He opened with two or three songs from his Healing Rain album. New songs to me. Very slick performances, but not anything that really gripped me. Then he apparently broke with the planned programme to sit down on the edge of the podium with an acoustic guitar and had the whole place (18,500 people) singing some of the golden oldies (Step By Step, Thy Word). Then back to the programme and a mixture of songs from the album (some co-written with Martin Smith of Delirious?) and some classics.

Afterwards we had quite a discussion about the nature of this event. Was it worship in any real sense? Or was it just an entertaining concert lead by a star in the market for Christian songs? And if it was the the latter is that idolatry and to be avoided?

By comparison with the Brian Doerksen, Today concert
earlier this year this MWS concert was a huge commercial event. BD was
in a church building with around a thousand people and I had no doubt
it was the people of God at worship. MWS in Gelredome, with high-tech podium, seemed to lack something
by comparison.